Transformation of the Contemporary Political Party System in Germany: Fragmentation, Intra-Party Dynamics, and Regional Asymmetry

The subject of this research is the transformation of the modern party system of Germany in the period after the reunification of the country up to the early 2020s. The study focuses on the key structural changes of the party system, the crisis of the so-called “people’s parties” (CDU/CSU and SPD), the strengthening of “new type” parties (the Greens and AfD), as well as the crisis in the left political spectrum that led to the split of Die Linke. Particular attention is paid to the changing electoral base of the parties, the transformation of their ideological positions, and intra-party dynamics, including leadership crises, the rise of factional competition, and the radicalization of certain wings. The research addresses both institutional developments and socio-political cleavages, including migration, European integration, and attitudes towards globalization. The study applies a structural-functional and comparative-historical approach, combined with elements of quantitative electoral analysis. The scientific novelty of this article lies in the comprehensive examination of German party-political dynamics through the prism of both inter-party and intra-party processes. Unlike most existing studies, which are mainly limited to describing electoral shifts or institutional evolution, this article emphasizes the interconnection between the crisis of the “people’s parties,” the rise of new political actors, and the intensifying polarization within parties themselves. For the first time in Russian scholarship, an attempt is made to compare long-term trends in the transformation of the German party system with its current challenges, including fragmentation, the decline of electoral stability, and the radicalization of certain segments. The findings suggest that the German party system is gradually evolving from a model of “balanced bipartisanship” towards a multipolar format of political competition, which requires revisiting the classical theoretical models of West European party system analysis.

party system, Germany, transformation, Volksparteien, fragmentation, multiparty politics, electoral volatility, coalitions, political polarization, party radicalization